Implementing Electronic Health Records: Six Best Practices

IT Operating ExpensesBenchmarking shows that hospitals experience an 80 percent increase in IT operating expenses while transitioning to EMRs.

Accenture recently published a report entitled Secrets of Success on the EMR Journey to Meaningful Use, which is based on interviews conducted with CIOs of health systems with advanced use of electronic medical records (EMRs). According to the report, less than 1 percent of health systems achieved mature use of EMRs in 2009, and approximately 50 percent of US hospitals are at risk of incurring penalties by 2015 for failing to meet federal requirements. Accenture estimates that an average 500-bed hospital would face annual reductions in Medicare reimbursement rates equivalent to $3 million to $6 million annually for failing to meet meaningful use requirements by 2015. What's more, the survey finds that most major health systems underestimate the time and cost required to implement advanced EMR functions. "Meaningful use of EMRs is often wrongly characterized as a check-the-box qualification for stimulus monies," says Mark Knickrehm, global managing director, Accenture Health Practice. "But, this survey shows that exemplary hospital CIOs and health systems are changing the way technology is used to deliver healthcare. From strategic planning, staffing and adoption, health systems are integrating technology at a previously unprecedented level, but many health systems are lagging and at risk of facing penalties." The survey results are based on in-depth, in-person interviews conducted with 15 CIOs from select US health systems with advanced EMR use and annual revenues between $1 billion and $15 billion from April to August of 2010.